With stricter pre-flight Covid testing set to come into force this week, and a concerning drop in tracer app scans over the summer break, the Ministry of Health has revealed details on new infections coming into the country.
There are no new cases in the community.
The new cases include three people who arrived from Russia on January 6, and are part of the group of international mariners. In total, 17 positive Covid-19 cases have been identified in this group: nine are deemed historical and eight are active cases.
The four other cases arrived on January 7 and included one from India, two from the United States and one from Puerto Rico.
One previously reported case, who arrived on January 4 from the United States, was now regarded as under investigation as a possible historical case.
This case was removed from New Zealand's tally while the Ministry of Health investigated and awaited a second test result, due later this week.
The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 62, with 21 having recovered since Monday. The total number of confirmed cases is 1872.
The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,448,199.
On Monday, 2187 tests were processed and yesterday there were 4847 tests processed. The seven-day rolling average up to yesterday is 3729 tests processed.
LATEST CASE DETAILS
BLOOMFIELD: SCAN, SCAN, SCAN
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield made yet another plea for the public not to "get complacent" with the Covid-19 scanner.
"The goal of the NZ Covid Tracer app is to help people record their visits and help to support contact tracers in tracing potential close and casual contacts.
"We can't afford to get complacent – especially given the increasing numbers of new cases we're seeing in many other countries.
"We've seen how quickly the virus can spread. We all have a responsibility to support contact tracing by keeping a record of our movements, either with the app or by another method such as a diary.
"When someone tests positive for Covid-19, the faster they can provide contact tracers with information about where they've been, the faster contact tracers can get ahead of the virus and break the chain of transmission.
"It's incredibly important we all scan the QR codes wherever we see them, as the more we all scan, the safer we'll all be. If you can't scan then please keep a record of where you have been. The NZ Covid Tracer app is one way to do this through the manual entry option.
"Taking a few seconds to scan in with the app or to record where you have been means we can quickly inform you when you may have been exposed to the virus, so you can take steps to protect yourself and others.
"Make summer unstoppable – scan, scan, scan."
Bloomfield also said people should turn on the new Bluetooth function which means users will get an alert if they have been near another another app user who tests positive for Covid-19.
The ministry said its next update would be on Friday.
Meanwhile, concerns are mounting over contagious new variants of the coronavirus from South Africa and the United Kingdom.
There are already 19 cases of the UK strain detected in New Zealand since December 13, and one case of the South African variant.
In recent days the number of active cases arriving in the country has spiked, with 31 people testing positive for the infection at the end of last week.
On Monday there were 77 active cases in New Zealand. However, there have been no cases in the community since November 18 last year.
| Arrival date | From | Via | Positive test day/reason | Managed isolation/quarantine location |
| 6 January | Russia | Singapore | Around day 3/routine testing | Christchurch |
| 6 January | Russia | Singapore | Around day 3/routine testing | Christchurch |
| 6 January | Russia | Singapore | Around day 3/routine testing | Christchurch |
| Note: The above three cases are part of the group of international mariners. In total, 17 positive COVID-19 cases have been identified in this group: nine are deemed historical and eight are active cases. | ||||
| 7 January | India | United Arab Emirates | Around day 3/routine testing | Auckland |
| 7 January | United States | Direct flight from Los Angeles | Around day 3/routine testing | Christchurch |
| 7 January | United States | Direct flight from Los Angeles | Around day 3/routine testing | Christchurch |
| 7 January | Puerto Rico | Via Los Angeles | Around day 3/routine testing | Christchurch |
